Arizona State Football: Jayden Daniels gives Sun Devils best chance to win

Arizona State football coach Herm Edwards made a decision on his starting quarterback on Tuesday, and it was the right one.

Herm Edwards has gotten his ‘welcome to college football’ moment already but finding a new quarterback is almost a right of passage for head coaches.

Arizona State had Manny Wilkins in 2018 as he passed for 3,025 yards and 20 touchdowns with only three interceptions, making the former NFL coach a lucky man. He graduated following the season and left the starting job to junior Dillon Sterling-Cole or freshman Jayden Daniels.

The battle has raged on into the summer as many believed Sterling-Cole would win solely based on experience, but Daniels has been better during summer camp, earning the right to be called QB1 by Edwards on Tuesday.

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who has followed him throughout his high school career as he doesn’t seem to be affected by pressure and has that big-play ability that makes him exciting to watch. He has plenty of potential to be one of the Pac-12’s top dual-threat guys and he has the highest upside.

While I do believe Daniels gives the Sun Devils the best chance to win as they go from a 6-7 win team to one that could push for 8-9, he will get his own ‘welcome to college football’ moment in the third week of the season at Michigan State.

With the first two games of the year being sure wins against Kent State and Sacramento State, where Daniels will likely put up gaudy numbers, he will travel to East Lansing to take on one of the nation’s best defenses. He’ll likely suffer through his first bump in the road, but how he rebounds from this will tell us a lot about his mental makeup.

Arizona State has a talented athlete at QB1 and Edwards needs to make sure he brings him along quickly to be ready for Pac-12 play — and that Week 3 bout.